The present invention relates to a setting arrangement for a seat and particularly to control over the support elements in the seat.
A known practice is to provide vehicle seats with various adjustment facilities for adapting the shape of the seat to the individual who sits in it. Also known is the provision of such adjustments by means of various support elements which are placed at various positions in the seat and which may for example include rubber bladders whose shape may be altered by input/discharge of compressed air. In such cases, adjustment of the seat may be accomplished by opening the respective inlet/outlet valves of each of the rubber bladders. In this respect the state of the art uses at least one separate control element for each rubber bladder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,086 refers to a setting arrangement for adjusting the two front seats in a vehicle. That setting arrangement includes a number of different setting elements for different possible adjustments. That setting arrangement includes, inter alia, a control lever in the form of a so-called xe2x80x9cjoystickxe2x80x9d by which the sitting surface of the seat can be raised or lowered by the control lever being moved respectively to the left or the right and by which the sitting surface can be shifted forwards or rearwards by the control lever being moved respectively forwards or rearwards.
With the known setting arrangements, vehicle seat adjustment in such a way as to suit the individual who sits in the seat is thus a lengthy and time-consuming operation. Moreover, if a vehicle driver tries to adjust the seat while driving, this may cause a traffic hazard.
The object of the present invention is to provide a setting arrangement by which the adjustment of a vehicle seat can be accomplished in a simpler manner than heretofore.
This object is achieved with a setting arrangement which incorporates only one control lever which is designed to make it possible to adjust the shape of said support elements. Only one control lever being used for adjusting all the support elements of the seat substantially simplifies the adaptation of the seat to the individual who sits in it. It also reduces the risk of traffic accidents in the event of adjustment being carried out by the vehicle driver while driving.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the support elements are placed in a particular configuration and the control lever is designed to initiate adjustment of the shape of the various support elements by its being movable in a manner which corresponds to said configuration. This means that the control lever can follow the mental picture which the user has of the system, i.e. the locations of the various support elements. Such a configuration also makes it easier to learn the operation of the setting arrangement and requires a minimum of attention from the user.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the control lever is so designed that a movement forwards with respect to the normal direction of forward movement of the vehicle causes relevant support elements to shift outwards away from the seat, whereas a corresponding movement rearwards causes relevant support elements to shift inwards towards the seat. Such a control lever movement configuration corresponds in a substantially intuitive manner to operating the control lever in order respectively to take pressure out of, and put pressure into, one or more support elements.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the control lever is so designed that a pulling movement outwards causes relevant support elements to shift outwards away from the seat, whereas a corresponding pushing movement inwards causes relevant support elements to shift inwards towards the seat. Such a control lever movement configuration corresponds in a substantially intuitive manner to operating the control lever in order respectively to take pressure out of, and put pressure into, one or more support elements.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the setting arrangement includes a basic unit on which the control lever is arranged in such a manner as to protrude from the basic unit, while at the same time the control lever is designed to assume a neutral position in which it extends substantially perpendicular from the basic unit. In this case, said support elements may be arranged in a backrest of said seat. The control lever in said neutral position may also extend substantially horizontally and be so designed that a movement with a component directed upwards from said neutral position activates an upper support element in the backrest, whereas a corresponding movement with a component directed downwards activates a lower support element of the backrest. Such a control lever movement configuration corresponds in a substantially intuitive manner to operating the control lever in order respectively to take pressure out of, and put pressure into, support elements at various heights of the seat backrest.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, said support elements include two lateral support elements and at least one back support element which is arranged between said lateral support elements.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, substantially every support element includes a reservoir made of an at least partially flexible material which allows the reservoir to be expanded in at least one direction by input of a medium and be contracted in said direction by discharge of said medium.